THE BROWN HERITAGE

Through many unfortunate reasons much of my father's early ancestry was not made known to him or his brothers and sisters.  This account has been pieced together by neighbors and the eldest daughter of the Brown family.

My great great grandfather came from Holland in the late seventeen hundreds.  His father my great great great grandfather was a Lutheran minister and three of his brothers had become devout Lutheran ministers also.  Because of economics and family problems, Alfred Myers felt America was the place for improving himself.  Since written records were not kept, all information had to be passed down by word-of-mouth, so nothing is known of crossing the Atlantic, problems of transportation or details of the journey to the first homes.  Alfred Myers, the great great grandfather, settled near Philadelphia.  His vocation was a shopkeeper.

He also married and raised his family there, his wife was of Spanish decent. A daughter was born to him who grew up and married a wealthy merchants son, Al Brown was his name.  He was a son of an Irish immigrant.  Al Brown and his wife moved to Kentucky where they invested in a large plantation.  A son George was born to them.  He recieved a fine education in an eastern school, although he could have had a fine home in Kentucky, he decided against it and started west.  In Barber County, Kansas, he met his future bride-to-be.

His bride was the daughter of Alvin Clemons an Irishman who fought for the Confederate army during the Civil War.  Her name was Lucy Maude Clemons and her mother was of Norweigan decent.

In Barber County, Kansas on October 18, 1885 Lucy Clemonss and Geroge.Brown were married.  They settled on a small farm and maintained it for a year, they spent some time in Topkea until they finally homsteaded in Montana.
 

NEW WORLD ENVIRONMENT

 
             My grandfather  acquired land by the Homestead Act.  He settled with his wife, brother and sister in the Judith Basin of central Montana.  He acquired one hundred and sixty acres which was entirely planted into wheat except for a few acres reserved for the horses and the cows raised for milk.  Over fifteen years George and his wife lived and prospered on the rich land.  By this time his family had grown to seven sons and seven daughters.  The first child was my father, his name was Willard.

             This children's names were as follws and born in this order:

1. Willard
2. Lem
3,4 Emory & Stella
5. Leonard
6. Mabel
7. Gertrude
8. George
9. Iveston
10,11 Cora & Clara
12. Margaret
13. Wilson
14. Violet
 

Suddenly, George Brown died leaving his wife and the eldest sons to take care of the ranch and was buried in Great Falls, Montana.

In 1914 Willard, the eldest son, married Frances McIntire on September 27 at Lewistown, Montana.

Another disaster struck in 1917, a great drought spread through Montana. The prolonged drought spelled the break-up of the homestead, cattle and horses starved to death because literally there wasn't any grass to eat.  The homestead was just left because the children were old enough to be employed in the larger western cities.

My father left Montana only once when they moved to Weiser, Idaho for a couple of years. The rest of his life he lived mostly in Whitefish and  Choteau, Montana.  He was born November 15, 1886 in Topeka, Kansas and died in Great Falls August 4, 1945 at the young age of 59 years old and left his wife and 5 children:
             1. Chester - born in Denton - September 15, 1915
             2. George - born in Big Sandy - November 14, 1916
             3. Lucy - born in Browning - September 14, 1918
             4. Ethel - born in Whitefish - June 16) 1923
             5. Martha - born in Whitefish - November 3, 1926

The eldest daughter Lucy was born in Chief Wades-in-the-Water's cabin in Browning, Montana (Blackfeet Indian Reservation).

This I have researched and have gone back as far as my great, great, great grandfather his last name was Myers (great, great grandfather was Alfred Myers) (great, great grandfather was Brown) (great grandfather was Al Brown) (great grandfather Alvin Clemons) grandfather George Brown.
 
 
 

Martha A. Brown Morris
November 15, 1988